Ola!! Today I'm going to Ica by bus, named Cruz del sur. I left lima at 630 am to the bus station. The bus cost to Ica was 55 soles. This is a tourist coach, which is very comfie since the seat can recline almost t0 55 degrees, better than an airplane seats. Left from Lima at 730 and stopped at Paracas at 12 or so, more passengers took the same bus and off we went to Ica.Got to my hotel, named Las Dunas hotel (a very nice hotel), around 1 pm. I only had an hour break before I went dune buggies. Mind you, I never tried it so it was my first time doing the dune buggies and sandboarding. My driver name was senor Pepe who doesn't know much English but knows his way around the desert. He is an excellent driver.The dune buggies was so much fun, it was a bit like going uphill in san francisco (I forgot the steepest hill's name) and then going down really really fast on the sand. It was really exhillarating however, the wind was so strong so I got covered in sand pretty fast

. After going so many hills, we stopped and he showed me how to do the sandboarding. It was fun as well though I got tired really fast because after going downhill on a sandboard, I needed to go walk uphill again so I could do the sandboarding again. Aiya.. if I got enough sleep the night before and not travelling by bus for 5 hours, I might have the strength to do the sandboarding over and over again. So after 3 times trying, no more for me. On top of that, my camera was giving me so much problem because the sand got inside the lense cover due to the wind and I need my camera since I haven't reach Machu Picchu yet. I feel like standing in Sahara desert with Pacific Ocean on one side and the Andes Mountain on the other side. The sight is amazing. Though it's very arid area, they managed to plant cotton, agricultural products especially asparagus and grapes for pisco. Not only that, there are even chicken farms in the middle of the desert ... (they're afraid of the avian flu, so they built the chicken farm so far away from the city).After the sand buggies, I went for a private tour with Johan at 4 pm. A native peruvian with excellent English who also is studying French also at the moment. He is much younger but is a very nice and welcoming. He went with me to this small store on the street to buy ice cream and water while we were waiting for the driver to drop us off at Huacachina oasis. The driver was very late so we went there with the driver who works for the hotel. Once we got to Huacachina oasis, Johan showed me the nicest hotel, named Mossone (I believe). He told me the story of Huacachina oasis. It was about a princess named Huacachina ,who was very pretty and she went to this oasis to take a bath. Because she was very pretty, she could not be seen by people. However, since this oasis near a forest area, there was this hunter who tried to capture Huacachina when she was taking her bath

. So Huacachina tried to put on her clothes while running. Her clothes became the sandunes as she ran and the mirror that she brought was broken into pieces. and she plunged into this oasis and became a mermaid. Whenever there's a full moon, she would sing to lure foreigner men into the oasis to die. The color of the water is green like her eyes. It is a nice story.There is alos this very old tree, named Huarango. This tree produce what they called black honey/ algomobima (don't know what the spelling is). This black honey is supposedly like those caffein drinks. It energizes whoever drink it or eat it to the traditional believe and it can cure whatever ailments. (no money drink black honey).The oasis area is sooo pretty although the water on the oasis is murky enough for me, but locals swim there. There were so many foreigners who just walk around or do the sand buggies. Once we got back to the hotel, it was 4 pm and the dinner wasn't served until 730 pm. Thank goodness I brought energy bars, because I was hungry already. There was a buffet dinner, but I chose to eat at the resturant. I had this wonderful salad with black honey vinagraite dressing which makes the salad so delicious. I also got a complementary pisco sour, hehehehhe,,,gratis again, not complaining because @ Astrid Y Gaston, the pisco sour costs 22 soles. A bit of Las Dunas hotel, it was built like haciendas which is very beautiful with so many flowers with different colors and white walls. The inside of the hotel has a very old decor and my room feels like a cabin.